2011 California Code
Business and Professions Code
DIVISION 3. PROFESSIONS AND VOCATIONS GENERALLY [5000 - 9998.8]
ARTICLE 10.5. Provision of Financial Services by Lawyers
Section 6175.3

A lawyer, while acting as a fiduciary, may sell financial products to a client who is an elder or dependent adult with whom the lawyer has or has had, within the preceding three years, an attorney-client relationship, if the transaction or acquisition and its terms are fair and reasonable to the client, and if the lawyer provides that client with a disclosure that satisfies all of the following conditions:

(a) The disclosure is in writing and is clear and conspicuous. The disclosure shall be a separate document, appropriately entitled, in 12-point print with one inch of space on all borders.

(b) The disclosure, in a manner that should reasonably have been understood by that client, is signed by the client, or the client s conservator, guardian, or agent under a valid durable power of attorney.

(c) The disclosure states that the lawyer shall receive a commission and sets forth the amount of the commission and the actual percentage rate of the commission, if any. If the actual amount of the commission cannot be ascertained at the outset of the transaction, the disclosure shall include the actual percentage rate of the commission or the alternate basis upon which the commission will be computed, including an example of how the commission would be calculated.

(d) The disclosure identifies the source of the commission and the relationship between the source of the commission and the person receiving the commission.

(e) The disclosure is presented to the client at or prior to the time the recommendation of the financial product is made.

(f) The disclosure advises the client that he or she may obtain independent advice regarding the purchase of the financial product and will be given a reasonable opportunity to seek that advice.

(g) The disclosure contains a statement that the financial product may be returned to the issuing company within 30 days of receipt by the client for a refund as set forth in Section 10127.10 of the Insurance Code.

(h) The disclosure contains a statement that if the purchase of the financial product is for the purposes of Medi-Cal planning, the client has been advised of other appropriate alternatives, including spend-down strategies, and of the possibility of obtaining a fair hearing or obtaining a court order.

(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 454, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2000.)